Atmosphere at the Simon Estes Amphitheater, Des Moines (8/11/09)

Atmosphere brought a showering of lyrics when they stormed into Des Moines.

Atmosphere - Shoulda Know Atmosphere Tour Dates 08/14/09 Red Rocks Amph Morrison, CO 08/15/09 Paoli Soleri Outdoor Amph SantaF,NM 08/16/09 Club 101 El Paso, TX 08/18/09 House of Blues  Las Vegas, NV 08/19/09 Hollywood Palladium, CA 08/21/09 House Of Blues San Diego, CA 08/23/09 Fairplex Pomona, CA 08/30/09 Outside Music Fest SF, CA 09/08/09 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN 09/09/09 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN Discography [1997] Overcast! [2002] God Loves Ugly [2003] Seven's Travels [2005] You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having [2007] Strictly Leakage (free download) [2008] When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

Des Moines had the pleasure of listening to one of the freshest sounds tonight; Atmosphere made their first appearance in Des Moines and they left impressed, to say the least. Atmosphere’s front man, Slug, coined us “his family reunion” and that he’s very proud to call Des Moines his friend.

Atmosphere at Simon Estes Amphitheater, Des Moines (8/11/09) ♥ photo by Elizabeth Soda

Whether the crowd was spitting along with Atmosphere’s beats or waving their hands side-to-side, Simon Estes Amphitheater was flooded with love and appreciation for this rapper’s talent. The group showcased many of their popular favorites like, “Sunshine,”  “Always Coming Back Home to You,” & “Trying to Find a Balance.”  It was truly amazing how Des Moines came together to celebrate with Atmosphere and their whole entourage. I was under the impression that Atmosphere was not that popular within the suburbs of Des Moines, but the more people filed towards the front of the amphitheater, it just went to prove that music is alive and well, no matter what kind it is.

Slug provided the audience with a free-style rap at the very end of the show. He included tidbits about down home cooking and the Embassy suites. It was a nice touch to wrap up the night and also provided me with a sense of how he really felt about Iowa. “Atmosphere flips lyrics like a spatula.” So he said himself while spitting to his own rhyme about his vocal talents.  He seemed to really enjoy the crowd’s energy and played off it for most of the evening. Slug told jokes and even made friendly contact with the crowd every now and then. In regards to his friendliness to the crowd, while the opening bands made their transition, Slug appeared out of nowhere and started to meet with the crowd. He began shaking hands with everyone and thanking them for coming. I had the opportunity to shake his hand. It proved to me that Atmosphere isn’t like any other band, they truly care about their audience and about the ears that Slug’s lyrics fall upon.

The opening acts were Attracted to Gods and Eyedea & Abilities. The crowd seemed most familiar with the lyrical rhymes of Eyedea & Abilities. Attracted to Gods was a great duo that reminded me of George Thorogood. They had really great jam sessions that twanged with a bit of blues rock.

 08/12/2009 19:11:52 ♥ ashley () ♥ rhymesayers.com/atmosphere ♥ myspace.com/atmosphere